The Talking Beasts Part 6

The a.s.s and His Shadow

A Man, one hot day, hired an a.s.s, with his Driver, to carry some merchandise across a sandy plain. The sun's rays were overpowering, and unable to advance farther without a temporary rest he called upon the Driver to stop, and proceeded to sit down in the shadow of the a.s.s.

The Driver, however, a l.u.s.ty fellow, rudely pushed him away, and sat down on the spot himself.

"Nay, friend," said the Driver, "when you hired this a.s.s of me you said nothing about the shadow. If now you want that, too, you must pay for it."

The a.s.s in the Lion's Skin

An a.s.s, finding a Lion's skin, put it on, and ranged about the forest.

The beasts fled in terror, and he was delighted at the success of his disguise. Meeting a Fox, he rushed upon him, and this time he tried to imitate as well the roaring of the Lion.

"Ah," said the Fox, "if you had held your tongue I should have been deceived like the rest; but now you bray I know who you are!"

The Wolf and the Sheep

A Wolf, sorely wounded and bitten by dogs, lay sick and maimed in his lair. Parched with thirst, he called to a Sheep who was pa.s.sing and asked her to fetch some water from a stream flowing close by. "For,"

he said, "if you will bring me drink, sister, I will find means to provide myself with meat."

"Yes," said the Sheep, "but if I should bring you the draught, you would doubtless make me provide the meat also."

Jupiter's Two Wallets

When Jupiter made Man, he gave him two Wallets; one for his neighbour's faults, the other for his own. He threw them over the Man's shoulder, so that one hung in front and the other behind.

The Man kept the one in front for his neighbour's faults, and the one behind for his own; so that, while the first was always under his nose, it took some pains to see the latter.

This custom, which began thus early, is not quite unknown at the present day.

The Satyr and the Traveller

A Satyr, ranging in the forest in winter, came across a Traveller, half starved with the cold. He took pity on him and invited him to go to his cave. On their way the Man kept blowing upon his fingers.

"Why do you do that?" said the Satyr, who had seen little of the world.

"To warm my hands, they are nearly frozen," replied the Man.

Arrived at the cave, the Satyr poured out a mess of smoking pottage and laid it before the Traveller, who at once commenced blowing at it with all his might.

"What, blowing again!" cried the Satyr. "Is it not hot enough?"

"Yes, faith," answered the Man, "it is hot enough in all conscience, and that is just the reason why I blow it."

"Be off with you!" cried the Satyr, in alarm; "I will have no part with a man who can blow hot and cold from the same mouth."

The Two Travellers and the Oyster

As two men were walking by the seaside at low water they saw an Oyster, and they both stooped at the same time to pick it up. Immediately, one pushed the other away, and a dispute ensued.

A third Traveller coming along at the time, they determined to refer the matter to him, as to which of the two had the better right to the Oyster.

While they were each telling his story the Arbitrator gravely took out his knife, opened the sh.e.l.l and loosened the Oyster.

When they had finished, and were listening for his decision, he just as gravely swallowed the Oyster, and offered them the two halves of the sh.e.l.l. "The Court," said he, "awards you each a Sh.e.l.l. The Oyster will cover the costs."

The Young Mouse, the c.o.c.k, and the Cat

A young Mouse, on his return to his hole after leaving it for the first time, thus recounted his adventures to his mother: "Mother," said he, "quitting this narrow place where you have brought me up, I was rambling about to-day like a Young Mouse of spirit, who wished to see and to be seen, when two such notable creatures came in my way! One was so gracious, so gentle and benign; the other, who was just as noisy and forbidding, had on his head and under his chin pieces of raw meat, which shook at every step he took; and then, all at once, beating his sides with the utmost fury, he uttered such a harsh and piercing cry that I fled in terror; and this, too, just as I was about to introduce myself to the other stranger, who was covered with fur like our own, only richer looking and much more beautiful, and who seemed so modest and benevolent that it did my heart good to look at her."

"Ah, my son," replied the Old Mouse, "learn while you live to distrust appearances. The first strange creature was nothing but a Fowl, that will ere long be killed, and, when put on a dish in the pantry, we may make a delicious supper of his bones, while the other was a nasty, sly, and bloodthirsty hypocrite of a Cat, to whom no food is so welcome as a young and juicy Mouse like yourself."

The Wolf and the Mastiff

A Wolf, who was almost skin and bone, so well did the Dogs of the neighbourhood keep guard over their masters' property, met, one moons.h.i.+ny night, a sleek Mastiff, who was, moreover, as strong as he was fat. The Wolf would gladly have supped off him, but saw that there would first be a great fight, for which, in his condition, he was not prepared; so, bidding the Dog good-evening very humbly, he praised his prosperous looks.

"It would be easy for you," replied the Mastiff, "to get as fat as I am if you liked. Quit this forest, where you and your fellows live so wretchedly, and often die with hunger. Follow me, and you will fare much better.'

"What shall I have to do?" asked the Wolf.

"Almost nothing," answered the Dog; "only chase away the beggars and fawn upon the folks of the house. You will, in return, be paid with all sorts of nice things--bones of fowls and pigeons--to say nothing of many a friendly pat on the head."

The Wolf, at the picture of so much comfort, nearly shed tears of joy.

They trotted off together, but, as they went along, the Wolf noticed a bare spot on the Dog's neck.

"What is that mark?" said he. "Oh, nothing," said the Dog.

"How nothing?" urged the Wolf. "Oh, the merest trifle," answered the Dog; "the collar which I wear when I am tied up is the cause of it."

"Tied up!" exclaimed the Wolf, with a sudden stop; "tied up? Can you not always run where you please, then?"

"Well, not quite always," said the Mastiff; "but what can that matter?"

"It matters so much to me," rejoined the Wolf, "that your lot shall not be mine at any price"; and, leaping away, he ran once more to his native forest.